Craig Campbell won’t let Luke Bryan “have all the sexy”

While Charles Esten plays a country singer on television, there’s no acting that goes on when Craig Campbell takes the stage. Campbell, who performed “God Bless America” at the Music City Bowl on Monday, had one of the longest-running songs in chart history earlier this year when his single “Outta My Head” stayed on the country radio airplay charts for 54 weeks.

Campbell’s new single “Keep Them Kisses Comin’” is now at country radio and he said that radio stations seem more eager than ever to embrace his music. It is his fastest climbing single to date.

“I have yet to put out a song that tells this side of me,” Campbell said, following rehearsal at LP Field. “It’s a love song. When I first heard it, I thought about me and my wife. One of our favorite things to do is just chill out on the couch with some wine. It’s also one of those songs where you could listen to it and think about the early stages of dating. It’s a sexy song. I wanted people to know that I’m sexy, too. I can’t let Luke Bryan and Jake Owen have all the sexy, I’ve got to have some of it, too.”

In addition to “Keep Them Kisses Comin,’” fans also can hear Campbell’s voice on a country cover of Lorde’s hit “Royals.” The Georgia native admits he was initially unsure, but recorded the song at the urging of local radio personality Bobby Bones.

“I had never heard it, but I downloaded it,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘It’s a girl song? How can I do that?’ But I said, ‘Hey, I’ll give it a shot.’”

Several radio stations started playing Campbell’s cover and his team made it available on iTunes. Proceeds benefit The Humane Society.

“Sometimes I don’t like it when people remake pop songs,” he said. “But I feel like as soon as I sang it, it was no longer a pop song, it was a country song. I do it live at my shows and people love it.”